Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Who (re)sizes brand new brass before using?

Who (re)sizes brand new brass before using?

In comparing notes while at the range with another shooter (he is a full on "benchrest" type), I told him I had some new brass on order, and I was going to chamfer the case mouths, prime them and load them up. This brought a howl from him...

It seems I've been doing it wrong the last 40 years.
According to him I need to:
1) Weight sort them (+/- 1 grain)
2) Neck size them
3) Trim to length
4) Chamfer case mouths
5) Load...

This is new Federal brand brass that is intended for high volume ground squirrel control. It will be shot out of multiply factory bolt action rifles.

Anyone else use this routine with new brass? I certainly do all that with fired brass. Maybe I should just buy once fired
and save the extra cash over factory fresh...

Sometimes, or in my opinion most times, new case mouths need a pass over an expander to true them up before chamfering.

Sometimes new cases do need a pass through a FL die so they'll chamber correctly.

Weighing cases (within the same lot) is pretty much a waste of time unless you have a good number of other ducks already in a neat row.

Shotgunjock: I have been "re-sizing" new brass for going on 57 years now - and it has worked very well for me indeed.
In the past I have also sorted new brass by weight selling of the "high weights" and the "low weights" and keeping the "middle weights" for my own use.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Pretty much says it all.

if needed...round mouths & load.......

Lapua is usually ready to go........

p/dogs & other varmints will never know the diff......

I always size new cases.

shotgunjock,

The "technique" of resizing new cases has been discussed before on the Campfire, and I'm always surprised at the number of people who actually do it.

Or at least they claim to always full-length size new brass, though I've wondered how they deal with factory ammo. Do they break it down and resize the cases, then load the cases up again, just in case the factory didn't get it right? A lot of today's factory ammo is VERY accurate, which would seem to indicate the new cases are OK.

Running an expander ball inside the necks of new cases is one thing, since they often get dinged up, especially when sold in plastic bags. But otherwise brass is always "full-length sized" by factories, because they use full-length dies to form the cases.

Now, once in a while factories run their case-forming dies until they're very worn, usually when making brass for unpopular or semi-obsolete cartridges, because there's no profit in replacing the forming dies very often. But in common cartridges they normally replace the forming dies regularly, because they know they'll be selling .223's, .243's, .270's, .308's, .30-06's, etc. for a long time, either as component brass or for factory ammo.

I also wonder how many handloaders who always full-length size new brass have actually run tests on whether this results in smaller groups. The expander balls in the typical dies used by most handloaders tend to pull necks out line with the case body, resulting in poorer accuracy because the seated bullet will be misaligned.

In contrast, new brass is normally very straight through the case body and neck, because the necks AREN'T pulled over an expander ball. Just pushing the necks over an expander ball usually doesn't cause any misalignment, but full-length sizing often does. I know this because I've experimented with new and resized brass considerably, rather than assuming resizing brass (whether new or fired) always results in finer accuracy.

I normally do measure 3-4 cases out of a new batch to see if by some strange chance they left the factory too long I don't trim cases if it isn't necessary, for whatever reason, and after 50+ years of handloading can't recall encountering many new cases that were over SAAMI maximum length.

Oh, and I generally don't do anything more with new brass than running the neck over an expander ball, especially when loading rounds for shooting hundreds of burrowing rodents, because I generally shoot boattailed bullets that don't require case-mouth chamfering to seat easily. If loading flat-base bullets, whether I chamfer inside the case mouth depends on the bullet. Quite a few have enough of a bevel around the base to seat easily anyway.

I'll also note that a LOT of handloaders like to use time and energy on stuff that doesn't make any measureable difference, apparently because they prefer spending time in the loading room to other activities. I handload a LOT as part of my job, so don't prefer wasting time, but if handloaders who aren't making super-accurate ammo for, say, benchrest match shooting like to spend hours on irrelevant "recreation," then they should. But I'll also note that out of all the benchrest competitors I know, not a single one resizes brand new cases.

Often Remington brass will need neck sizing by pushing the expander ball. The brass is inexpensive and I use it. Winchester brass is often a little bette in that regard. After that as the price goes up, I see little or no need to use the expander.


If I'm using range brass or military brass or 'once fired' brass then the brass gets resized until it fits the chamber.

Yes, just save the money and buy (non-crimped primer) once fired in bulk. Full length re-size everything so they work in your multiple bolt action rifles.

And If you're gonna take the time to set-up your die for that batch of new brass and just true-up the necks with the
expander ball... ya might as well run it all the way home and full length size every piece, cause you're already there at the press anyways. Sooner or later, All that brass, new or used is gonna go into your die.

FL size, trim, deburr flash hole and chamfer case mouths. Trimming will come as a surprise to most but I bet 5-8 out of 50 new brass have several thousandths trimmed off, maybe a bit overboard but that's how I do it.

Yep. You've been doing it wrong....and once you shoot them remember to clean the primer pockets, the flash hole, and check for concentric neck thickness each time....
Then brush AND floss 6 times daily....

Don't forget deburring the inside of the flash hole, uniforming the depth of the primer pockets, and cleaning the brass until it reflects your smiling face. Oh, and weight-sorting all the bullets.

It's been proven many times that it's impossible to hit small rodents if you skip any of those steps.

You also forgot all about weighing primers...

I do, and any load that could be used for self defense and all loads that will be used where dangerous game are present get manually ran through each firearm.

This would explain my oh so infrequent misses on the killing fields....

What, you guys don't get each round blessed by the parish priest? (Or kissed by the bum sleeping in the bathroom at the bus station?)

I run the expander ball through the neck. On new brass I load for the best accuracy I run the expander ball through the neck and turn the necks and then neck size with the expander ball just under the neck when the brass is all the way in the die.

Size, trim, chamfer,deburr, flash hole deburr, uniform primer pockets, sometimes light neck turn.

I go ahead and size all my new brass. Why should I assume neck tension is the same from the factory? Besides, it's still pretty common for some to have dinged necks; if I'm running them over the expander ball I might as well just size them.

I like to make the necks round again, but thats all.

Well, I do chamfer and debur.

I hate the little ring of jacket material that peels off the bullet when you seat them. So, VLD chamfer tool set up in a RCBS case prep station.